The Hand in the Window: 'Be On the Lookout'

Summary

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20/20: The Hand in the Window – "Be On the Lookout"

ABC News | Broadcast Date: November 19, 2025
Host: Debra Roberts | Reporter: John Quinones

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Episode Overview

In this third installment of "The Hand in the Window," the 20/20 team revisits the cases of missing women in Ashland, Ohio, focusing on the disappearance of Stacy Stanley. The episode blends gripping interviews with the family, pivotal police interrogation audio, and narration to unravel the tangled web connecting Stanley’s case to a frightening spree of abductions and assaults. Central to the story is Detective Kim Major’s extraordinary interrogation of Sean Grate—the man suspected of abducting and killing multiple women.

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Key Discussion Points & Timeline

Introducing Stacy Stanley: A Family’s Anchor

[00:51 – 03:08]

• Portrait of Stacy Stanley: A vibrant, punk rock grandmother beloved by her family—remembered for her big heart, classic rock karaoke, and her role as the “glue” in the Stanley household.
• Family Reflections:
  • “She was one of the most kindest people you would ever meet. Do anything for anybody. Was like the major part of our family that brought everybody together.” — Gina Stanley [02:14]
  • Stacy’s sons, Corey and Curtis, describe her as loving, caring, and devoted.
  • Notable moment: Stacy’s incessant phone check-ins with her sons, highlighting her deep attachment.

The Disappearance: From Errand to Emergency

[03:08 – 06:09]

• September 8, 2016: Stacy travels to Ashland for errands, including a stop at Walmart and a nail salon. On the way home, she gets a flat tire, calls her sons for help, and interacts with a helpful stranger at a gas station.
  • “Her whole demeanor changed, like she was like, all happy, giggly, like her normal self, you know.” — Corey Stanley [04:47]
  • The family’s friend fixes her tire; Stacy’s last call to her son ends with “I love you. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” [05:43]
• Alarm Bells: When Stacy doesn’t check in the next day, her family visits her trailer and finds her beloved dogs unattended—a clear sign something is amiss.

The Search Intensifies: Family and Community Mobilize

[06:09 – 10:42]

• The family retraces her route, contacts police, and canvasses the town with flyers and volunteer searchers.
  • “We had a good 70, 80 of us walking the streets handing out flyers. Like I had printed off like almost 2 or 3,000 flyers.” — Curtis Stanley [10:06]
• Key Evidence: Stacy’s car is found parked oddly, with the driver’s seat pushed back and unfamiliar cigarettes inside—suggesting someone else drove it after she vanished.

Connecting Disappearances: A Trend in Ashland

[10:42 – 12:04]

• The Stanley case is contextualized alongside two other cases: Elizabeth Griffith, missing for three weeks, and the fresh abduction of Jane Doe. The abandoned homes in Ashland become a sinister focal point.

Detective Kim Major’s Interrogation: Breaking Sean Grate

[15:12 – 32:22]

• Detective Preparation: Kim Major, known for her deft interrogation skills, is tasked with getting answers from suspect Sean Grate about Jane Doe and possibly other missing women.
  • “I might do a little bit of history to try to get a baseline... In his case, I knew nothing.” — Detective Kim Major [17:00]
• Building Rapport:
  • Major gets Grate’s handcuffs removed, offers him coffee, and uses a gentle, empathetic tone, even as she acknowledges the risks:
    • “I have a flaw where I am focused on what I need to get, and my safety sometimes doesn't even come to mind.” — Detective Kim Major [19:40]
• The Confession Unfolds:
  • Grate initially blames his homelessness and troubled childhood:
    • “So really, it's all Ashlyn's fault for everything that I've done.” — Sean Grate [21:45]
    • Details his mother’s abandonment (Major responds empathetically).
  • Through slow, methodical questioning, Major dismantles Grate’s justifications for assaulting Jane Doe:
    • “But tying her up and forcing her into sex is not free.” — Detective Kim Major [26:54]
    • Grate confesses: “I abducted her and raped her.” [27:44]
  • Grate admits to additional crimes: strangulation, threats, sedation, and filming the assault.
    • “Earlier in my career, I probably would have stopped right at Jane Doe… this case was bigger…” — Detective Kim Major [28:18]

Expanding the Scope: Suspicion of More Victims

[28:28 – 32:22]

• Major presses Grate for information on both Elizabeth Griffith and Stacy Stanley.
  • She appeals to his conscience and persistence, trying to draw out details.
  • Grate alternates between cryptic admissions and evasiveness:
    • “I might not be able to take you to her. Maybe someone else or others.” — Sean Grate [31:15]
    • “How many are there?” – Detective Kim Major
      “Depends on how much you say is many.” – Sean Grate [31:21]
    • According to Major: “I feel played with.”
• Notable Reflection: Despite decades of experience and over a thousand interviews, Major acknowledges the unique psychological complexity of this interrogation.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Quote | Speaker | |-----------|-------|---------| | 02:14 | "She was one of the most kindest people you would ever meet." | Gina Stanley | | 04:47 | “She was like, all happy, giggly, like her normal self, you know.” | Corey Stanley | | 06:44 | “There's no way. She loved them dogs so much. And at that point, we kind of knew something was wrong.” | Corey Stanley | | 10:06 | “We had a good 70, 80 of us walking the streets handing out flyers...” | Curtis Stanley | | 17:00 | “In his case, I knew nothing. So my goal was to walk...” | Detective Kim Major | | 19:40 | “I have a flaw where I am focused on what I need to get, and my safety sometimes doesn't even come to mind.” | Detective Kim Major | | 21:45 | “So really, it's all Ashlyn's fault for everything that I've done.” | Sean Grate | | 26:54 | “But tying her up and forcing her into sex is not free.” | Detective Kim Major | | 27:44 | “I abducted her and raped her.” | Sean Grate | | 28:18 | “Earlier in my career, I probably would have stopped right at Jane Doe. I would have walked out of the room and maybe did some high fives with people that I got a confession.” | Detective Kim Major | | 31:21 | “I might not be able to take you to her. Maybe someone else or others.” | Sean Grate |

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Key Takeaways

• The disappearance of Stacy Stanley catalyzed a community-wide search, highlighting both family determination and the chilling realization that multiple women were vanishing under similar circumstances in Ashland.
• Detective Kim Major’s empathetic yet strategic interview techniques underscore both the risks and skill involved in breaking down dangerous suspects' defenses.
• Sean Grate’s confession illuminates not only the crimes but also the manipulative and self-excusing mindset of the perpetrator.
• The full extent of Grate’s crimes remains uncertain as the episode concludes, leaving listeners unsettled but gripped by the real-time unraveling of a dark case.

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For listeners interested in true crime, investigative psychology, or the resilience of families in the face of tragedy, this episode weaves together intimate testimony and methodical police work for a tense, emotionally charged narrative.

Transcript

[Debra Roberts]

This is Debra Roberts. I'm here with another weekly episode of our latest series from 2020 and ABC Audio, the Hand in the Window. Remember, you can get new episodes early if you follow the Hand in the Window for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or your favorite podcast app. Now here's the episode a message from McAfee wondering why the post office is texting you or why you owe thousands of dollars in tol because someone's trying to scam you. The good news? McAfee can help with McAfee's award winning scam Detection it's easy to tell what's real and what's fake over text in your inbox and online. If they're FA you want a free gift. Seriously, if they're faking it, they're not making it past us. Get award winning scam detection today.

[Narrator/Reporter]

McAfee.com Keep it real at 43, Stacy Stanley was a grandma with a punk rock look. She wore her hair short and spiky and she often, often donned a studded leather choker necklace or a black and white bandana. Stacy had the music taste to match her look. Classic rock was her favorite and she was not shy about performing it at karaoke. Her sister Gina Stanley says her go to songs were Lynyrd Skynyrd's Freebird and Sweet Child of Mine by Guns N Roses.

[Gina Stanley]

Sweet Child of Mine. I actually had a video of her singing it when we were kids. I was videotaping her singing that.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Gina shared the video with ABC News. In this home video, a teenage Stacy with dark, very high volume hair holds a microphone and belts with confidence in her living room. Stacy and her sister Gina were just 11 months apart in age.

[Gina Stanley]

We grew up to be very close.

[Narrator/Reporter]

What was Stacy like?

[Gina Stanley]

She was one of the most kindest people you would ever meet. Do anything for anybody. Was like the major part of our family that brought everybody together. Had made big dinners and stuff for holidays and stuff like that.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Gina told me. Stacy was the glue that held the family together. She was very close with her two sons, Corrie and Curtis. Corey, how would you describe her?

[Corey Stanley]

Very loving and caring. You know, give the shirt off her back if she needed to. Very good mother. Couldn't ask for a better one.

[Curtis Stanley]

Curtis always there for her kids, calling you consistently. You know, if you didn't pick up, she'd call you like a thousand times. Like you put it on mute and then your wife would get the calls and like your mom's calling for what? To talk to you.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Stacey lived in Greenwich, Ohio, about 20 minutes from Ashland. She didn't seem to have anything in common with Jane Doe, who was kidnapped in the town, or with Elizabeth Griffith, who had recently gone missing from ashland. But on September 8, 2016, Stacy Stanley drove into Ashland to run some errands, and she never returned home. From ABC Audio in 2020. I'm John Quinones, and this is the Hand in the window. Episode 3 Be on the Lookout. Stacy Stanley headed to the walmart in Ashland for topsoil and gardening supplies While she was in town. She also got her nails done. When she stopped for gas on the way home, she realized she'd been driving on a flat tire. She called her sons for help. Curtis says she was frantic and annoyed. After all, she had just gotten a new tire.

[Curtis Stanley]

She called us a thousand times. So I picked up, and I'm like, what's up, mom? She said, oh, I got a flat tire. I said, okay, well, let me call you back, and me and Corey will figure something out.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Curtis and Corey got in touch with a family friend who was in Ashland that evening, and they arranged for him to swing by the gas station to help with. With Stacy's tire.

[Corey Stanley]

And I called her back. I said, hey, we got. Somebody's gonna come down, help you change a tire. He'll be there shortly. And her whole demeanor changed, like she was like, all happy, giggly, like her normal self, you know. She was laughing on the phone. And I said, well, she's like some nice guy, stopped to help, but he don't have no tools. And I. I then told her to tell him, you know, kick rocks. We, you know, we got somebody to.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Come and help you kick rocks, meaning get lost. Curtis says his mom had a tendency to trust people. She'd give strangers rides all the time.

[Curtis Stanley]

I'm like, you gotta quit doing that, because some. You can't trust everybody. Everybody's not the right person to trust.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But in this case, everything seemed to turn out fine. At first, the stranger used the tools the family friend had brought to change the tire. And that was that.

[Corey Stanley]

I had talked to my mom about. Must have been about 20 minutes later or so that she was in the gas station getting a couple coffees, cappuccinos to be exact. And that she was gonna go home. And she'll call me in the morning. And she's like, all right, Wayne, I love you. It's a nickname she always called me. And I said, all right, mom. I love you. I'll talk to you tomorrow. And that was the last we ever heard from Her.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The next day, Corey went to work as usual. But later that evening, he realized he hadn't heard from his mom.

[Corey Stanley]

I tried calling her. I was ringing like a busy tone. So at that time, I called my brother. I said, hey, have you heard from mom today? And he said, no. I said, try calling her. I can't get a hold of her. He tried calling her. I worked the rest of that evening, and then I called my aunt. I'm like, hey, we haven't heard from mom. Do you know what's going on? And she's like, no, we should go down there. So we end up going to my mom's trailer.

[Narrator/Reporter]

No one answered when they knocked, and the door was locked. So Stacy's sons and her sister ended up forcing the door open.

[Corey Stanley]

And she had two little dogs, Choco and Maya. She loved them. Little dog, little chihuahuas.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The two chihuahuas were still in their kennels. It was clear that Stacy had not been home to let them out.

[Gina Stanley]

We just knew that she wouldn't just leave those dogs home by their self like that.

[Corey Stanley]

There's no way. She loved them dogs so much. And at that point, we kind of knew something was wrong.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Stacy's family began looking for her and her car. What had happened? On her way home from the gas.

[Gina Stanley]

Station, me and Corey was gonna go drive the routes from Ashland to Greenwich to check to see if there was any accidents or maybe she was down in a ravine or something like that.

[Corey Stanley]

Maybe she fell asleep and wrecked her car, and nobody just had noticed it.

[Narrator/Reporter]

They didn't find her car or any signs of car accidents along the route. So they reported Stacy missing to the police.

[Corey Stanley]

The Huron county sheriffs had put out a bolo. Be on the lookout.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Stacy's family kept doing their own digging, too. Corey Stanley went back to the gas station to see if any of the employees had seen anything. They remembered Stacy, but didn't know she left with anyone.

[Corey Stanley]

After that, we went down to the police station to try to see if they got any kind of news or anything. And while we were speaking to them, it came across the radio that they had. Somebody had reported her car on East 9th street in Ashland.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The caller said Stacy's car was parked on the side of the road just a few streets over from the abandoned houses on Covert Court. By this point, Stacy had been missing for three days.

[Corey Stanley]

We beat the cops over to the car. The cops end up showing up there. And my brother opened the door up and got in the car and was looking for, you know, in the car for something.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Curtis realized the driver's seat was all the way back.

[Curtis Stanley]

My mom was short, so it didn't make sense why the seat was back. So then I started digging around a little bit more and I seen that her driver's license was not in the her purse. I'm like, okay, that's odd, you know, like, why is that out?

[Narrator/Reporter]

When Corey looked inside the car, he noticed something else was off. He picked up her ashtray.

[Corey Stanley]

My mom smoked roll E cigarettes. She rolled her own and it was cheaper that away. And I just opened it up and I happened to see Camel filtered cigarettes in there. And I was like, these aren't my mom's. My mom don't smoke these. I know my mom will not spend money on cigarettes. It's alarming because now we're figuring this was my mom driving a car and these aren't her cigarette butts. So somebody else was in this car.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Stacy's family kept searching for her. After crisscrossing Ashland and the roads leading to Greenwich, they got a group of volunteers together.

[Curtis Stanley]

We had a good 70, 80 of us walking the streets handing out flyers. Like I had printed off like almost 2 or 3,000 flyers.

[Corey Stanley]

We're searching dumpsters and anything just to try to, you know, because something obvious. We knew something had happened, but we didn't know what.

[Narrator/Reporter]

One evening, some of the volunteers even went up to the abandoned houses on Covert Court.

[Curtis Stanley]

Beating on the door, realizing it was an empty house, was going to go in there, but it was so late at night that we all had kids and we had to go get up the next morning and take the kids to school. Then we went right back out there to do it again.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Stacy's family didn't know that one of these run down houses near the laundromat was not actually empty. And they didn't know that the disappearance of their beloved mom, grandmother and sister was just one event in a new disturbing trend in Ashland, Ohio. About three weeks earlier, 29 year old Elizabeth Griffith had gone missing. And on September 11th, three days after Stacy was last seen at the gas station station, Jane Doe was held captive and assaulted inside one of those abandoned houses by the laundromat. In a matter of weeks, Ashland had become the site of a kidnapping and two disappearances. At the Ashland police station, Detective Kim Major was trying to figure out what was going on in Ashland. She'd started by speaking with Jane Doe. Her next task, interviewing Jane Doe's kidnapper. What did he have to say for himself? And could he be connected to the missing women?

[Debra Roberts]

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[Narrator/Reporter]

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[Debra Roberts]

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[Detective Kim Major]

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[Detective Kim Major]

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[Debra Roberts]

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[Detective Kim Major]

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[Debra Roberts]

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[Narrator/Reporter]

During Detective Kim Major's interview with Jane Doe, she got a detailed account of how Sean Grate had lured Jane into the abandoned house, held her captive and raped her. When the interview with Jane ended, Detective Major thought her work was done. But when she stepped out of her office, the police captain told her that Sean Grate was not offering much information so far. The captain wanted Detective Major, an expert interviewer, to see if she could get Great to open up. And he wanted Major to ask Great about more than just his alleged crimes against Jane Doe.

[Detective Kim Major]

While you're in there, see if he knows anything about the missing girls.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The missing girls? 29 year old Elizabeth Griffith, who we told you about in the last episode, and 43 year old Stacy Stanley, whose sons had been searching for her for days. Detective Major was surprised to hear Stacy's name. She knew that Jane Doe, Elizabeth Griffith and Sean Grate all spent time at the Kroc center in town. But Detective Major was not aware of any possible link between Stacey Stanley and Shawn Grate. The investigation unfolding in front of Detective Major kept getting bigger and bigger. But it seemed like one person, Shawn Great, might hold the answers. Detective Major typically liked to prepare before interviews, especially ones as high stakes as this one.

[Detective Kim Major]

I might do a little bit of history to try to get a baseline. Maybe I'll try to type somebody's personality or find out what matters to them. It can help you with maybe changing gears in an interview because they're so dynamic. In his case, I knew nothing. So my goal was to walk.

[Narrator/Reporter]

You didn't have a lot of time to study.

[Detective Kim Major]

I had a couple minutes to walk down the hall because you always run that risk of somebody shooting, shutting down. So there is no time. There's no time to go in a room and do history. There's no time to make 10 phone calls.

[Narrator/Reporter]

You're figuring him out as you go.

[Detective Kim Major]

Yeah.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The room Shawn Great was being held in was not at all like Detective Major's office with its plants and soothing colors. Sean Grate was instead seated in a standard interrogation room with bare walls and Stark Lighting.

[Detective Kim Major]

Date:September 13, 2016 Time:10:53am Detective Major preparing to interview Sean.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Your initial impression of his appearance?

[Detective Kim Major]

He was shirtless. So his physique. He's muscular. His eyes, they're just as people describe them later. They're blue and piercing.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Angry. Upset.

[Detective Kim Major]

Almost neutral. Initially, he had been angry. I knew prior to me coming in. But when I saw him, when we made eye contact and I came in the room, he was sort of neutral. I could see him looking at me, just wondering how to take me.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Detective Major had a strategy for putting people accused of crimes at ease. She was deliberate about everything she did. In an interview, I'm hyper aware of.

[Detective Kim Major]

How the room is set up. I don't interview with a table in between someone. I might be at the corner of the table, but I'm face to face with someone. So in his case, he was handcuffed. And I can't get a confession with somebody in handcuffs. So those came off.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Why?

[Detective Kim Major]

Well, I talk with my hands. So do a lot of people. So those nuances in an interview are how you pick up on something that's different than somebody's constant. And then when you see something that varies from that, you know there's something going on there.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But out of his handcuffs, he could attack you.

[Detective Kim Major]

He could. He could.

[Narrator/Reporter]

You weren't thinking about that.

[Detective Kim Major]

I have a flaw, so I'm gonna just air it right here. I have a flaw where I am focused on what I need to get, and my safety sometimes doesn't even come to mind. Hey, Shawn. I'm Kid Major. Nice to meet you. We're gonna get these cuffs off ya.

[Narrator/Reporter]

After she took his handcuffs off, Detective Major asked Grate if he'd like anything to drink. He said he wanted coffee, and she asked an officer to bring some in. Major had learned that building rapport with a suspect and showing them empathy could get them to open up. So she chose to speak with Grate in a gentle tone.

[Detective Kim Major]

All right, all right. You're going through a lot. Okay? A whole lot.

[Narrator/Reporter]

There was a camera in the room so that other officers could watch and listen. But that camera went down during the interview. So the audio you're hearing is from Detective Major's backup recorder.

[Detective Kim Major]

I had dropped it down my top. And it's not something I even tell generally would tell people, but it's just my backup. And in this case, it became the primary recording. So you can hear my heartbeat on there.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Once Detective Major and Sean Grayt settled in, she told Gray she had just talked to Jane Doe about what happened to her in that abandoned house on Covert Court.

[Detective Kim Major]

I want to kind of go through what she said, and see what we're missing. Okay. It looks like, you know, you have a conscience. You have some feelings. Like you. I can see that. I saw you tear up when I came in.

[Sean Grate]

So, yeah, that's rough when you ask me. I'm going through things, like. Yeah, I am going through things.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Grade explained that by going through things, he meant not having anywhere to live. He said Ashlyn's homeless shelter was shut down, and that's why he was staying in the abandoned house.

[Sean Grate]

So really, it's all Ashlyn's fault for everything that I've done.

[Detective Kim Major]

That's frustrating. I think sometimes it's like the perfect storm. You're here in Ashland. You don't have a place to go. You end up being in an abandoned house, which is, you know, you're always looking over your shoulder, wondering if somebody's gonna show up here, and you're in some place you're not supposed to be. So when you say it's Ashland's fault. Well, we can't blame that. But you know what? Sometimes we are where we are because of all these little things that are going wrong around us.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Detective Major told Sean Grate that investigators already knew what he had done to Jane Doe. Now they wanted to understand why he abducted and assaulted her. Great traced things back to his mom.

[Sean Grate]

May have started when my mom left me when I was a child. I come home from school, and she's gone. But I don't blame her. I don't. I used to.

[Detective Kim Major]

But why did she leave?

[Sean Grate]

She had to go find herself.

[Detective Kim Major]

I'm sorry. That's hard.

[Sean Grate]

It don't really matter if I'm used to it.

[Detective Kim Major]

Well, I don't know that you are. You're going through everything. You're still human. You know what I mean?

[Narrator/Reporter]

Sean Great started crying. Detective Major tried to comfort him. She said that being honest about what he'd done to Jane Doe was the right thing to do. She started asking him questions about her. Great said Jane Doe was very Christian, knew the Bible well, and did not believe in sex outside of marriage. But he also told Detective Major that he believed Jane Doe needed to have sex to push past her lustful desires.

[Sean Grate]

She's just battling all the time. She's battling, like, with the lustful desires. And it's a roadblock of.

[Detective Kim Major]

Actually, did you think by you doing what you did to her that it would push her past that? I mean, I'm not.

[Corey Stanley]

I know.

[Sean Grate]

I.

[Corey Stanley]

Overboard.

[Sean Grate]

I think I. Overboard.

[Detective Kim Major]

Overboard, yeah. Overboard. It did get overboard.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Detective Major pointed out that he had held Jane Doe captive for days.

[Sean Grate]

Time was just going too fast.

[Detective Kim Major]

Meaning you wanted to keep her there and do it another time. Meaning have sex with her again.

[Sean Grate]

Just spending time with her. That I wouldn't be able to spend time with her for a long time.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Major also pointed out that Jane Doe was injured all over her body. Grate tried to justify that by saying he gave her a few little taps.

[Sean Grate]

I did smack her like a few little taps.

[Detective Kim Major]

But you do understand with your strength that a little tap to you on somebody like that is gonna cause some harm like that.

[Sean Grate]

But this was actually when she just started going crazy first, and I didn't know what to do.

[Detective Kim Major]

So you thought if I hit her, she'll snap out of it and submit.

[Sean Grate]

She didn't still submit.

[Narrator/Reporter]

You got more and more out of him.

[Detective Kim Major]

That's right. It just kept coming out in layers. A little bit more and a little bit more.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Detective Major and Shawn Grate had been talking for almost 40 minutes. She knew she had to tread carefully. She needed a full, clear confession.

[Detective Kim Major]

Time is always of the essence. I'm against the clock to get them to say something before I say the wrong thing and cause them to stop talking at all.

[Narrator/Reporter]

So far, Great had spent a lot of the interview downplaying what he had done to Jane Doe or trying to justify it.

[Detective Kim Major]

Do you think this will impact her for a long time?

[Sean Grate]

Through her lustful thoughts, she'd be able to move on and stay focused. Now.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Detective Major tried to get Shawn Gray to move beyond attempting to justify what he had done. Her tone remained calm even as she began asking more pointed questions.

[Detective Kim Major]

Do you think that that is good for her? To have somebody force themselves to have sex with you? Is that good or not good? That's not good. Okay, so you think she needed to have sex with somebody.

[Gina Stanley]

But.

[Detective Kim Major]

Do you think she needed to be forced into sex? Be honest.

[Sean Grate]

She needed it because she wasn't gonna do it herself because it's so wrong. She needed to be free from that.

[Detective Kim Major]

But tying her up and forcing her into sex is not free.

[Sean Grate]

Tie her up and have sex with her. No, I didn't tie her up.

[Detective Kim Major]

You tie her up when you leave to keep her from leaving. Yeah, okay. But you're five times as strong as her. Am I right? Is that right or wrong? That's kind of a given. Right? So she doesn't have the option of not. She tried to fight you off. I mean, looking at this whole thing. You forced her to have sex. She didn't want to.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Sean Gray to grate. Did not Have a defense this time. Detective Major's questions seemed to have worn him down. He became very quiet and said, I.

[Sean Grate]

Abducted her and raped her.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Finally, Great had confessed. I abducted her. I raped her. He also admitted to strangling her, threatening to kill her, giving her drugs to sedate her, and using his phone to record the assault. It had taken 47 minutes of disciplined interrogation, but Detective Major had gotten what she needed.

[Detective Kim Major]

Earlier in my career, I probably would have stopped right at Jane Doe. I would have walked out of the room and maybe did some high fives with people that I got a confession.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But police suspected this case was bigger than Jane Doe. Detective Major needed to find out if Grate knew anything about the two other women, both still missing. Elizabeth Griffith and Stacey Stanley.

[Detective Kim Major]

So you have a conscience. Do you agree?

[Narrator/Reporter]

Yeah.

[Detective Kim Major]

You think your life's over. You think. You say you died along time ago. Meaning probably your soul. Or emotionally you feel like you're dead.

[Corey Stanley]

Yeah.

[Sean Grate]

I died on the cross with Jesus.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Detective Major started by mentioning Elizabeth Griffith. The 29 year old grade had met at the Kroc Center.

[Detective Kim Major]

We can't find Elizabeth. Can you help me?

[Narrator/Reporter]

I don't know if I can help you.

[Detective Kim Major]

Why? This might be one of those moments. This might be your moment to do the right thing. To do the right thing?

[Sean Grate]

Sean, it's the right thing.

[Detective Kim Major]

The right thing is to tell us where she is.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Great stayed quiet. Detective Major kept pushing gently.

[Detective Kim Major]

And that goes on for just so long. Long enough that he's acting like he has no idea what I'm talking about. And I'm trying to put value in what he's saying. And I'm thinking he may not know where she is. You almost feel like you're on the outside of yourself looking in. So I have to like check my ego and say, okay, I'm going to go for it.

[Narrator/Reporter]

She kept asking Sean Gray to tell her where Elizabeth could be.

[Detective Kim Major]

Can you take me to her?

[Sean Grate]

You've already found her.

[Detective Kim Major]

I haven't found her.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Detective Major kept assuring Gray that they really had not found Elizabeth Griffith. That they needed his help.

[Detective Kim Major]

I'm looking for Elizabeth's body. Can you take me to it?

[Sean Grate]

So she's dead?

[Detective Kim Major]

I believe she is. Hey, listen to me. This is your moment.

[Sean Grate]

Is it my moment?

[Detective Kim Major]

I believe it is.

[Sean Grate]

My moment is when I die. Once I'm put in a cell. The key locked is my mom.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Detective Major had spent an hour with Sean Grate. And he kept dangling information in front of her as if they were playing a game of cat and mouse.

[Sean Grate]

I might not be able to take you to her. Maybe someone else or others.

[Detective Kim Major]

How many are there?

[Sean Grate]

I don't know. Depending on how much you say many.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Great.

[Sean Grate]

Mumble.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Depends on how much you say is many. What?

[Sean Grate]

I don't know. There might not be none.

[Narrator/Reporter]

There might not be none. Great. Was being cryptic. So he's playing with you?

[Detective Kim Major]

I think so. Possibly he's wanting to tell me something. So he's saying things to see my reaction. I feel played with. But maybe he's struggling with. Should I say it or not?

[Narrator/Reporter]

You had been with the department two or three decades, right?

[Detective Kim Major]

Yeah.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Done. How many of these interviews? A thousand.

[Detective Kim Major]

Over one thousand.

[Narrator/Reporter]

This one was different in a lot of ways. Yes. Grade seemed to be getting closer to admiration.

[Curtis Stanley]

Something.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But did he have answers about what had happened to the two missing women in the area? Elizabeth Griffith and Stacey Stanley. Detective Major was not going to leave the room until she got Shawn. Great. To spill his secrets. The hand in the window is a production of abc audio and 2020, hosted by me, john quinones. Produced by madeline wood, camille peterson, kiara powell. Edited by gianna palmer. Our supervising producer is susie lu. Music and mixing by evan viola. Special thanks to katie dendos, janice johnston, michelle margulis, caitlin schiffer, rachel walker, annalisa linder, joseph diaz, jonathan balthaser, gail deutch, gary wynn, stephanie mcbee, natalie cardenas and samantha wanderer. Josh cohan is our director of podcast programming. Coming to Disney plus in Hulu Cassidy.

[Detective Kim Major]

Get us home, Jonas Brothers. You got it.

[Narrator/Reporter]

It'll be the best Jonas Christmas ever.

[Sean Grate]

Just can't wait to see you guys.

[Debra Roberts]

We love you.

[Narrator/Reporter]

If they can only make it home.

[Sean Grate]

What's going on?

[Corey Stanley]

Our tour plane burned down.

[Narrator/Reporter]

We cannot miss Christmas.

[Detective Kim Major]

Nothing can stop us from getting home now. Only you won't be.

[Narrator/Reporter]

You lost all three of your passports.

[Detective Kim Major]

It's Christmas. Anything can happen, right?

[Narrator/Reporter]

A very Jonas Christmas movie. Now streaming on Disney Plus. And Hulu made a TVPG DL2 rings surrounded by a steel cage. You want to be games?

[Corey Stanley]

We're going to play games.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Oh, my God. Are you kidding me? This is going to be a war stream.

[Corey Stanley]

Survivor series.

[Narrator/Reporter]

War Games November 29th at 7 Eastern on the ESPN app.